The Yuma Baseball Organization’s Jeff Armstrong Baseball Tournament had a successful run last weekend at the City of Yuma’s Jeff Armstrong Ball Park Complex.
The weather was nearly perfect, with highs in the 70s both days, though it was a bit chilly for the morning games.
Yuma’s 10U team cruised to its tournament title, beating East Central 16-1 in the final, Sunday afternoon. It was the first time in several years that a Yuma team had won a title at the Armstrong tourney.
Yuma’s 12U team went undefeated until the its semifinals, losing 6-3 to Scramblers, a team consisting of players from the Akron, Merino and Caliche communities. The Scramblers went on to beat Texhoma in the championship game, 13-12. Texhoma had beat Wray in extra innings in the other semifinal to reach the championship.
Texhoma, located on the Oklahoma-Texas border, traveled nearly six hours to compete in the tournament. The team is coached by Yuma native, and YHS graduate Nick Witte, who said he decided to bring his team to his hometown so they could play different teams for once. One of the coaches also was Yuma’s Jordan Sprouse’s teammate at Panhandle State University in Oklahoma. The team was treated to a barbecue Saturday night.
The 12U tournament went a bit long, thanks to extra innings in the semifinals, and a scoring fest in the championship, so the Texhoma team likely did not get home until well after midnight.
A total of 14 teams in the two divisions competed in the Armstrong tourney.
This was the first one to be completed since 2019. There was not a tournament in 2020 thanks to COVID-19, and the 2021 event got rained out on Sunday afternoon.
